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What's here

Visitor information

Overview

Lying in a small deep valley shaped by glaciers, Coed y Cerrig National Nature Reserve is hidden away in the southern part of the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons National Park.

There is a boardwalk suitable for wheelchairs that takes you through the wet woodland, just over the road from the small car park, and a steep circular route through the woodland on the side of the valley.

The road that passes the reserve was once a busy railway line, carrying men and materials to build the Grwyne Fawr reservoir nine miles away.

Small woodland big on variety

There are three distinct types of woodland here:

A wet alder woodland covers the moist valley floor. The alders used to be coppiced (cut to nearly ground level and then allowed to regrow) to make charcoal and soles for clogs

A mixed woodland of birch, ash and hazel clings to the drier steep valley sides

An oak and beech woodland grows in the more level ground with deeper, drier soils at the top of the reserve

Seasonal highlights

Spring

Look out for showy marsh marigolds in the wet valley bottom and the delicate pink ‘umbrellas’ of valerian growing along the boardwalk.

Spot the striking pink pyramidal flowers of early purple orchids and the colourless and strange toothwort plant which lives parasitically on the roots of other plants like hazel and elm.

Enjoy the swathe of fragrant bluebells along the path through the upper woodland.

Summer

Seek out the weird and wonderful bird’s nest orchid in early summer and the elegant nettle-leaved bell flower.

Watch for hovering damselflies and dragonflies and speckled wood butterflies flitting through shards of sunlight.

Listen for the trilling of a wood warbler (like a spinning coin) in the oak woodland and watch for the black and white flash of a pied-flycatcher or the colourful black, orange and grey bandit-like colouring of the male redstart.

Closures and diversions

Sometimes we need to close or divert trails for your safety whilst we undertake maintenance work or other operations

Occasionally we may have to close a site in extreme weather, such as high winds or snow and ice due to the risk of injury to visitors or staff

Please always follow any instructions onsite and make sure you follow any temporary diversion signs in place

Walking trails

Both walking trails are waymarked from the car park.

Alder Tree Boardwalk

½ mile, 0.8 kilometre, accessible

The wide and level boardwalk, with passing places and wooden benches, enables you to enjoy the woodland in the wet valley bottom. You can either return along the boardwalk or do a circular walk by following a non-boardwalk section shown on the map panel in the car park.

Woodland Climb

⅓ mile, 0.6 kilometre, strenuous

This short circular route climbs steeply up a series of rough stone steps, continuing through the woodland and dropping down a slope to the car park.

How to get here

Coed y Cerrig National Nature Reserve is 4 miles north of Abergavenny

The OS grid reference is SO 293 211.

Directions

Take the A465 from Abergavenny towards Hereford. After 4 miles, turn left into the village of Llanfihangel Crucorney. After 500 metres, turn left onto a minor road to Llanthony. After 1¼ miles take the left fork, following the brown and white duck signs. The car park is on the right after 1¼ miles.